Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for November 07, 2021

Maybe you should shower first.

Ain’t summer great?

Sometimes Mother Nature can be stepmother.

The last time I jumped into a pile of leaves I ended up with a big spider on my shoulder.

Hobbes: The voice of reason, talking Calvin out of outdoor activities.

The missing pillows won’t be the only thing preventing Calvin from falling asleep that night.

Spaceman Spiff is incredibly embarrassed with Calvin right now.

I think Calvin’s Mom and Dad are going to have some company in bed tonight.

That’s why I avoid nature as much as possible.

When I was younger I would hear about other kids jumping in go leaf piles for fun. I tried it. All my leaf piles were very small and spread out everywhere, and were 50% scratchy and 50% mulch. It was horrendous. I didn’t jump into leaf piles often.

I was told to leaf them alone…..

Hmmm, after Calvin has seen the Blob maybe he can ask Dad if they can go to Blockbuster (or whatever video store is in their neighborhood circa 1991) and check out the other works of Steve McQueen. Of course, Calvin’s dad will probably not want to bring Calvin to any video store as you can imagine the questions he could ask Dad and the movies he will probably want to watch which Mom and dad would both veto. So Dad might just tell the kid to be happy he can watch Creature Feature at 3 PM and see the Blob or whatever B movie happens to be on……….

“The Blob” (original) is a fantastic classic film and a Count Olaf favorite. Oodles of trivia. Steve McQueen’s feature film debut, he was 28 playing a teenager and kept a poster of the movie in his bedroom until he passed away. Steve was paid $2500 for the movie….The actual Blob, a mixture of red dye and silicone, has never dried out and is still kept in the original five-gallon pail in which it was shipped to the production company in 1958 from Union Carbide. It is still put on display at various gatherings and events … The catchy cha cha title song “The Blob” was made by The Five Blobs and made the charts the summer it was released. The title song “The Blob” was co-written by Burt Bacharach and is on his album “Look of Love:The Burt Bacharach Collection.” The Five Blobs turned out to be a phantom group that consisted of Bacharach, a bunch of musicians for hire and session singer, Bernie Nee, who tracked his voice five times. The pop in the lyrics is Bernie popping his finger out of his cheek. Watch and enjoy, Calvin et al. When Count Olaf saw it the first time (and several times after) it scared the bejesus out of him.

Autumn time, and the livin’ is easy

Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high

Your daddy’s rich and your ma is good-lookin’

So hush little baby, baby don’t you cry

The Blob was the first movie I saw in the theatre, about age 6 at the time. Ran out of there, terrified.

Always wondered if they made a sequel, as the original sort of suggested it at the end when they parachuted it into the ocean.

Yeah, nature is often icky. Some times TV is ickier.

Hobbes is a sadist when it comes to Calvin.

Great last line from Hobbes!

Another one of Watterson’s great early Sunday strips. This was great period for him.

a) cleaning the pillows is gonna be a treat — 2) every time I come back inside I feel stuff crawling on me for hours (even if it’s not)

Hate to break it to you, Calvin; but if you watch modern tv it will also start oozing mucus on you!

I keep wondering if any other kid has a kooky and wacked out imagination like Calvin’s?

I recall an old Foxtrot comic where that happened to Roger.

Maybe Bullwinkle and Rocky will be on. If you are real lucky Fracture Fairy will also be on to.

So where the red pillow’s under the leaf’s?

Make sure your leaf pile is dry. My best friend and I jumped into a wet pile and it was full of slugs. Haven’t jumped in a pile since.

And up here they are called banana slugs and for a reason. They get to 20 – 30 cm long and are bright yellow. Even bigger than the ones in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Stuff that lurks in leaf piles: https://www.countryliving.com/life/a39990/never-jump-in-a-leaf-pile/

I am still wondering where did pillows of mom go. Those aint required when you have a heap of autumn leaves piled up. Hobbes made the little boy weary of nature, though.

Thanks, Hobbes, for waiting until after Calvin jumped in to tell him.

Bzzzzzzt! Spelling police alert! I think mucous is an adjective, e.g., mucous membrane. Mucus is a noun, e.g., “something oozing mucus on you.” But either way, we get the point. Something yucky in the leaf pile. Peace.

One of the most disgusting things in the universe is to step on a big ol’ slug barefooted. I never go out on the sidewalk or the driveway in the summer at night without flip flops on.

The power of suggestion at work.

Slug slime on the pillows… hope that washes out.